Purchase Of Short Term Investments (Historical)
Returns the cash used for purchasing short-term investments for a company. This includes purchases of marketable securities, treasury bills, commercial paper, and other liquid investments.
Understanding the Metric
Short-term investment purchases include:
- Marketable securities
- Treasury bills and notes
- Commercial paper
- Certificates of deposit
- Money market instruments
Negative values indicate cash used for investment purchases (outflow). Companies with excess cash often actively invest in short-term securities.
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Symbol | Stock ticker (e.g., AAPL, MSFT) |
| Year | Fiscal year or period code (lq, ly, lq-1, ly-1, lt, lt-1) |
| Quarter | Optional: 1, 2, 3, or 4 (default: 1) |
| TTM | Optional: "TTM" for trailing twelve months |
Period Codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| lq | Last reported quarter |
| lq-1 | Quarter before last |
| ly | Last fiscal year |
| ly-1 | Year before last |
| lt | Last trailing twelve months |
| lt-1 | Prior trailing twelve months |
Syntax
=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments(Symbol, Year, [Quarter], [TTM])Parameters
Stock ticker symbol
Fiscal year (e.g., 2023) or period code (lq, lq-1, ly, ly-1, lt, lt-1)
Calendar quarter (1-4)
Set to 'TTM' for trailing twelve months
Returns
Cash used for purchase of short-term investments (in currency units, typically negative)
Examples
=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments("AAPL", 2023, 4)=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments("MSFT", "ly")=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments("GOOGL", 2023, , "TTM")=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments(A1, B1, C1)=hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments("META", "lq")When to Use
- Analyzing treasury management strategy
- Understanding cash deployment decisions
- Evaluating investment portfolio building
- Calculating net investment activity
- Assessing liquidity management
When NOT to Use
| Scenario | Use Instead |
|---|---|
| Need long-term investment purchases | hf_Purchase_of_long_term_investments() |
| Need short-term investment sales | hf_Sale_of_short_term_investments() |
| Need total cash | hf_Cash_at_end_of_period() |
| Need investment balance | Check balance sheet functions |
Common Issues & FAQ
Why is the value negative?
Purchases represent cash outflows, shown as negative numbers. A larger negative number means more cash was invested in short-term securities.
Why do tech companies have such large numbers?
Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google maintain massive cash balances that they actively invest in short-term securities to earn returns while maintaining liquidity.
What's the net short-term investment activity?
Net = hf_Sale_of_short_term_investments() + hf_Purchase_of_short_term_investments(). If negative, the company is building its investment portfolio; if positive, it's liquidating.
Related Formulas
More MarketXLS Historical Fundamentals formulas you can use in the same worksheet:
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